Forty thousand passengers hoping to fly between the UK and Continental Europe today have been grounded by a 24-hour strike by French air-traffic controllers.
Flights serving London Gatwick and Stansted airports are worst affected.
Members of the Syndicat National des Contrôleurs du Trafic Aérien (SNCTA) walked out at 5am (UK time). They are demanding a pay rise to keep pace with inflation and guarantees on future recruitment.
On Wednesday the French aviation authority DGAC ordered airlines to cut half the planned flights to, from or over France.
Because so many flights have been grounded at a time when bookings are strong, thousands of UK citizens due to fly home on Friday may not make it back in time for the Queen’s state funeral on Monday.
Airlines must provide seats on alternative flights as soon as possible, but very few are available over the weekend. European air passengers’ rights rules require the carrier to provide hotel rooms and meals, but cash compensation is not payable as the strike is beyond the airlines’ control.
Most of the flights hit by the strike were due to fly over France rather than to land or take off there. Two dozen departures to and from Barcelona have been grounded, together with 18 to Palma de Mallorca and back.
Other Spanish airports with multiple cancellations include Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga, Murcia and Reus.
The UK airport with the highest number of grounded flights is London Gatwick, where easyJet has cancelled 34 services – mainly to and from Spain and Italy, including flights to all three Milan airports. More than 5,000 passengers are affected.
Europe’s biggest budget airline, Ryanair, has cancelled a total of 420 flights – 38 of them to and from its main base, London Stansted. The highest number of services axed by the Irish carrier at other airports are at Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester.
The airline said in a statement: “Ryanair is once again calling for immediate EU action to prevent these French ATC [air traffic control] strikes disrupting the travel plans of thousands of European citizens.”
One British Airways round-trip from Heathrow to Gibraltar has been grounded. BA has also cancelled eight links serving Heathrow to and from Swiss airports.
In Scotland, Edinburgh airport is worst hit with a total of 26 flights axed. Links from Glasgow and Prestwick airports to Spain are also affected.
At least 26 Air France flights between UK airports and Paris Charles de Gaulle have been cancelled, wrecking long-haul plans for travellers connecting in the French capital.
Many of the links to and from provincial France serve airports with infrequent connections, such as Limoges, Lourdes, Nimes and Rennes. Passengers may well have to travel to a different airport to get there or back.
The cost in lost revenue to the airlines is likely to exceed £3m, with welfare costs adding significantly to the bill.
A further 200 flights to and from London Heathrow have been grounded on Monday 19 September the day of the Queen’s state funeral to eliminate aircraft noise over Westminster and Windsor.
